Gaming Laptop for College - Hardware & Software

Hey all. I currently attend a tech-based college (DeVry University) and I'm looking to invest into a good laptop for classes that can also play games smoothly. I'm not going for a Crysis-runner, but something that handle, say, Guild Wars 2 smoothly. I believe my max range will be $1500 to ~$2000 USD (time to cash in on my college savings). Any suggestions? I would prefer to stay away from DIY kits and get a pre-built. Also, I like the look of AlienWare, but that's really it. Not worth it if I can get a powerful, standard look laptop. I'm also majoring in C++ programming for Game design but I do plan to touch on models and the like. [editline]20th May 2011[/editline] Also: I already have a desktop computer at home for straight up gaming. The laptop is for school use and projects that I don't need my desktop for.

ASUS will be your best bet here.

Should I hit up Newegg and just search for ASUS laptops in that range? And compare them?

Most likely a multimedia laptop with a mid-range card (like GT540M or Radeon 5650/5730M)

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220921[/url] Should be good. Kinda heavy though.

Sager makes great gaming laptops, but they're quite expensive. However your max range is $1500-$2000, so that should be plenty. Gaming laptops generally have pretty terrible battery life, so they might not be good for class.

[QUOTE=I_Forgot;29950248]Sager makes great gaming laptops, but they're quite expensive. However your max range is $1500-$2000, so that should be plenty. Gaming laptops generally have pretty terrible battery life, so they might not be good for class.[/QUOTE] Gaming laptops are also very noisy and heat up a lot in heavy use. However, ASUS G53/G73 series are an exception to that. I also heard that Sager and Clevo are the "same" company. Is that true?

[url]www.xoticpc.com[/url] I got recommended a Sager NP8130 by someone on these forums, and it's been working great. It can run Crysis on high with a decent FPS (I'd like to say around 20 - 30). Oh yeah, and it's about $1200. I've had windows 7 crash on me once and I had to reinstall everything, but I don't think that was the fault with the laptop itself, more of the software causing that problem.

This laptop will be primarily for school work. I only plan to game 1-3 hrs on average between classes at school. Otherwise, I have a desktop for gaming already. [QUOTE=Lolthanio;29950760][url]www.xoticpc.com[/url] I got recommended a Sager NP8130 by someone on these forums, and it's been working great. It can run Crysis on high with a decent FPS (I'd like to say around 20 - 30). Oh yeah, and it's about $1200. I've had windows 7 crash on me once and I had to reinstall everything, but I don't think that was the fault with the laptop itself, more of the software causing that problem.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the site man. I'll probably get a decent laptop here since it let's you pick and choose parts like Dell's AlienWare site. Any insightful tips before I create a doomed machine? [editline]20th May 2011[/editline] I may go with this one... [url]http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g53jwa1-p-2857.html[/url] I'll customize it more but, should I aim for a high battery life laptop? [editline]20th May 2011[/editline] Or should I go cheaper on the laptop as a whole so I can customize it futher? Like LED lit keys and etc.?